Nn Council Approves Re-opening Of Road

Measures Will Address Traffic

December 12, 2001|By CHRISTOPHER SCHNAARS Daily Press

NEWPORT NEWS — Despite concerns about heavy traffic through two Denbigh neighborhoods, City Council members narrowly voted Tuesday night to reopen a short stretch of road that they closed three months ago.

On Sept. 7, the city closed the part of Red Oak Circle that connects Green Acres and Colony Pines. That closure gave city engineers time to study how the closure affected traffic volume along other residential streets.

The council voted 4-3 to accept City Manager Ed Maroney's recommendation to reopen the road by Feb. 28, with traffic- calming measures such as stop signs, medians and lower speed limits. Council members Madeline McMillan and Terry Martin, who represent the two neighborhoods, and Vice Mayor Charles Allen voted against the measure.

"You've got to realize you're affecting the lives of other people when you do this," Martin said. He said improvements to the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Denbigh Boulevard would also reduce traffic in the neighborhoods.

McMillan said residents who wanted Red Oak closed weren't exaggerating the amount of traffic. In voting against Maroney's recommendation, she said she wouldn't "condemn these people to the purgatory they were living in."

Three dozen people addressed the council during Tuesday's meeting, with 21 people who supported reopening the road and 15 people who said they wanted it to remain closed.

Red Oak gives residents at the back of Colony Pines quick access to Richneck Road. The road was also part of a popular shortcut between Denbigh Boulevard and Richneck that allowed drivers to avoid Jefferson Avenue.

Many residents living in Green Acres or along the shortcut said they wanted the road closed because of heavy traffic, speeding and vandalism. A traffic study found that the number of cars driving through an intersection near the closed stretch of road fell from 3,000 cars a day to 884 cars a day after the road was closed.

"There has to be a point where convenience is less important than the safety of the people on that street," Doris Narron said.

Other residents wanted the road reopened. Besides the loss of convenient access to Richneck, they said, they worried that the road closure would affect police, fire and ambulance response times, as well as limiting their ways out of the neighborhood during emergencies.

"Rabbits have been around a long time," Robert Smith said "Even they're smart enough to have more than one entrance to their hole."

Christopher Schnaars can be reached at 247-4768 or by e-mail at cschnaars@dailypress.com